The Royal Armouries at Fort Nelson rang to the sound of a new Fanfare on Saturday (8 September), honouring the role of Victorian Prime Minister Lord Palmerston in Portsmouth’s proud military history.

The Fanfare formed part of the Fort Nelson Tattoo’s opening sequence and was written by Captain Evin Frost, Director of Music for the Band of the Parachute Regiment.

The Fanfare is entitled ‘Palmerston’ in recognition of Lord Palmerston’s involvement in the building of the fortifications around Portsmouth Harbour. Fort Nelson is one of the area’s Palmerston forts and was a fitting place for the Fanfare’s premiere.

Evin – who hails from Horndean – is Director of Music of the Band of the Parachute Regiment and had overall responsibility for the event’s musical programme.

Evin’s role included conducting the massed bands of over 130 musicians, pipes and drums in the spectacular finale of both Tattoo performances – as well as leading the military band.

The members of the Para Band are veterans of Afghanistan, and were based at Camp Bastion during Christmas and New Year 2010/11. After entertaining British troops over the festive period, the band moved to Kandahar to partner with both the American and Afghan Army Bands and then to Kabul.

Royal Armouries Museum Director Peter Armstrong said, “We were delighted that the Fanfare premiered at Fort Nelson, itself a Palmerston Fort built in the 1860s to deter a feared French invasion. It was a fitting and rousing tribute to one of this country’s famous Prime Ministers.”

Tattoo profits will be shared among the ABF The Soldiers’ Charity; Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity; and the RAF Benevolent Fund.

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To find Fort Nelson, follow the brown Tourist signs from the M27. The Fort is open seven days a week, from 10am to 5pm.

Notes to editors

Royal Armouries is the national museum of arms and armour and has sites in Leeds, HM Tower of London, Fort Nelson and Louisville, Kentucky. It is the first British national museum to open a permanent presence in another country

Admission to the museum is free. However, there may be a small charge for some special events.